Metiendo Mano

Metiendo Mano! (transl. "Hard at work!") is the debut studio album by Puerto Rican-American trombonist and singer Willie Colón and Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades, released on October 7, 1977, through Fania Records.^[4] The album was produced by Colón and Jerry Masucci and is the second of four collaborative duo albums by Colón and Blades. The record includes the song "Pablo Pueblo", which is considered to be one of the initial forays into "conscious" or "intellectual" salsa^[5] and was the theme song to Blades' unsuccessful Panamanian presidential bid in 1994. Craig Harris wrote in MusicHound World that the album "not only represents a historic meeting of musical minds but remains a dance-inspiring masterpiece."^[3]

Metiendo Mano!
Studio album by Willie Colón and Rubén Blades
Released	October 7, 1977 (1977-10-07)
Recorded	1976–1977
Studio	La Tierra, New York City
Genre	Salsa
Length	50:23
Label	Fania
Producer	Willie Colón Jerry Masucci
Willie Colón and Rubén Blades chronology
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (1975) Metiendo Mano! (1977) Siembra (1978)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
MusicHound World	[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Rubén Blades, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Pablo Pueblo"		5:09
2.	"Según el Color"	Felix Hernández	6:00
3.	"La Maleta"		4:41
4.	"Me Recordarás"	Frank Domínguez	3:42
5.	"Plantación Adentro"	C. Curet Alonso	5:50
6.	"La Mora"	Eliseo Grenet	6:10
7.	"Lluvia de Tu Cielo"	Johnny Ortiz	5:41
8.	"Fue Varón"		5:32
9.	"Pueblo"		7:05

Personnel

Producer:

• Willie Colón

Executive Producer:

• Jerry Masucci

Musicians:

• Willie Colón – Trombone Solo (“Lluvia De Tu Cielo”), Gong, Percussion
• Ruben Blades – Acoustic Guitar
• Leopoldo Pineda – Trombone Solo (“Fue Varón”)
• Papo Vasquez – Trombone
• Lewis Kahn – Trombone
• Salvador Cuevas – Bass
• Milton Cardona – Conga, Clave, Talking Drum, Quinto (“Pueblo”)
• José Mangual Jr. – Bongos, Maracas, Percussion
• Nicky Marrero – Timbales
• José Torres – Piano
• Sonny Bravo – Piano (“Pablo Pueblo”), (“Según El Color”)
• Tom Malone – Tuba, Harp Synthesizer
• Yomo Toro – Cuatro (“Según El Color”), Lead Acoustic Guitar (“Me Recordarás”)
• Ruben Blades – Lead Vocals
• Chorus – Willie Colón, Ruben Blades, Milton Cardona, José Mangual Jr

Arrangements:

• Willie Colón (“Según El Color”, “La Mora”, “Plantación Adentro”)
• Louie Cruz  (“Pueblo”, “Lluvia De Tu Cielo”)
• Louis Ortíz – (“Pablo Pueblo”, “La Maleta”)
• Louie Ramírez (“ Fue Varón”)

Recorded at – La Tierra Sound Studios, NY

Engineers:

• Jon Fausty
• Irv Greenbaum

Photography – Mark Kozlowiski

Design – Izzy Sanabria

Title Design – Pam Lessero